對曰：「吾有子九人，家貧無以妻之，吾使傭而未返也。
」桓公取外御者五人妻之。
Lord Huan asked him why he was doing this.
管仲入見曰：「公之施惠，不亦小矣。
“I have nine sons” was the reply, “but, since my family is poor, I lack the means to procure wives for them, so I have sent them out to work for others—they have not yet returned.” Lord Huan thereupon picked five serving maids from his general retinue to be wives for the man’s sons.
」公曰：「何也？
」對曰：「公待所見而施惠焉，則齊國之有妻者少矣。」
When Guan Zhong entered and observed this, he said, “The favors you bestow are quite small, wouldn’t you say?” “How so?” asked Lord Huan. “You wait until you see a case of need before extending a favor—this way, few in Qi will have wives.”